Building a Professional Learning Network
by Leigh Sanger
While taking her specialist teacher-librarianship course, Leigh Sanger conducted an inquiry about PLNs and shares her findings and recommendations in this TMC presentation. This is a very important concern for all educators but particularly teacher-librarians who find themselves increasingly without the professional support they need. As Laurie states it is all really about improving student outcomes.
Leigh Sanger OCT, BA, BEd (she/her) is an award winning elementary teacher looking for a Library Learning Commons to call home since moving to the Upper Grand DSB after redeveloping the Kitchener Waterloo Bilingual School LLC. This is her 13th year in teaching. Leigh is passionate about fostering the innate curiosity of modern learners to guide their discovery of the world around them. Disrupting, unlearning and relearning. A maker at heart, Leigh enjoys tinkering with ideas, processes, and getting her hands dirty in creative projects. Outside of teaching, she loves motorcycling, canoeing with her family, and raising golden retrievers.
Leigh what really resonates with me is that you're scratching at a pre-existing idea to really dig it up and make it whole again. Collaboration used to be one of UGDSB's strengths --- like I would brag about it with other boards. The head of library services championed the Teacher-librarian network, and us secondary folk met about 4 times a year and often co-wrote proposals for grants etc. Without official and formal time release for specialized collaboration, with the diminishing of full-time roles, people are once again isolated and working in varied conditions to have a library presence at all. Just like Wendy's paper, about where does yours belong -- it belongs in so many of the TMC themes. Wouldn't it be great if we had some sort of a channel or online forum where we could say -- hey I've got this problem or I'm looking for a school who might share the cost of an author visit or... Let's keep thinking about this.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, I'm so glad TMC accepted your project - I told you it was worthy! Being an afterthought for PD is unfortunately a scenario I'm familiar with. A principal I had a while ago, not my current one, once asked me when I requested to be involved (and for all the specialist teachers to be involved) in our PLCs, "why would you want that?". (The happy news is that we do have a specialist teacher PLC now, that focuses on helping students with mental health and well-being.)
ReplyDeleteYour stages of PLN development on slide 12 are like the stages of social media involvement. I worry/wonder about whether social media is morphing in such a way that it is alienating some of the people (educators) who might benefit most from it.
Addressing teacher burnout via PLN is a different spin on the PLC model. We are lucky we have a vibrant TL network in my board (TDSB). When it gets too big, does it become less effective? I know OSLA wants to be able to be that presence for TLs and other SLLC staff in Ontario, but does size matter?
Diana
I am so glad that you continued with your plan to explore this topic and share at TMC8! I am in a section of my board that hasn't had a recent history of thriving PLNs. We are working to shift this to a more connected supportive structure. Lots of interest but a struggle with geography, meeting (virtual or in person) fatigue, personal capacity and very few of us in the TL role full time. I think you identify why those types of barriers impact the ability of TLs to truly commit. My approach is to keep offering and remind each other that even if it's only via email for now, we are here for one another.
ReplyDeleteLeigh. I really appreciate the ideas you share. I have always been a strong advocate for connected learning and in many ways some of my PLNs have turned into PLF (professional learning families). I really like the connection you make to wellness as the TL position can very often feel like a place of isolation. At the YCDSB, the secondary TLs tried to meet monthly in order to share learning or share concerns but this was initiated by us and prioritized by us rather than the school principal. In many cases, I am not sure that my principal knew it was even happening and some months, if I was co-teaching, I would miss the meeting. On social media, I often find that I am connecting with more US school librarians than Canadian ones and I am wondering why that is the case when there are such strong organizations here. I think it may be because of my early involvement with the ISTE Librarian network which no longer exists. In that role, we offered regular professional learning and I got to know some of the key school librarians and media specialists through conferences (again always in the US). I need to think more about where I can find this same community and the Canadian School Library has been that for me since I joined the Board. Ultimately, whether formal or informal (as your paper suggests), we need to support one another as we continue to advocate for our place as leaders in schools. Thanks for provoking my thinking!
ReplyDeleteLeigh! Loved this. PLNs were essential to my professional trajectory and when I discovered them in 2009 they amplified my practice while also producing life long friendships - not to mention mentorships. I can't understate their importance and this paper does that wonderfully.
ReplyDeleteHere's the but: grassroots PLNs never sat comfortably with the powers that be but there was a time when educators were given a degree of trust to direct their own PD.
That time is long passed. These days it's all about control and compliance (and newspaper articles framing teacher absenteeism as a crisis that needs to be stopped). Any time for PD is now packed with political innuendo, and opportunities to step away from the classroom to develop your practice (unless you're in management) have disappeared, which is a great way to control the narrative (and create an absenteeism crisis).
I would argue that it isn't actually professional development if the professionals themselves aren't directing it, and if the professionals don't want to direct it then they aren't being very professional. This point is one of the main reasons I'm getting all Elsa about going back to teaching